Met another angel on our travels. Oh, not the dressed in white, halo twirling, wings unfurled kind of angel…just a treasure of a guy who we could have sat and talked with for endless hours.

Actually the first angel directed us to the him.

First, you must know this about our never-ending roadtrip lifestyle. We travel in a whole different way than most…we don’t make plans but instead, we just go without any worry about where we will find a place to park our camper for the night.

And, we do our best to stay away from the huge RV parks where it looks and feels more like the suburbs of a big city with all the humongous Class A’s side by side…with all the bells and whistles of extravagance shining brightly. (We’re living in a Big Foot pickup camper…so when we pull into one of those parks, we can almost hear the Class A residents saying, “there goes the neighborhood!”)

So, we wing it on our trips and it always happens this way – someone will show up to give us the information we need.

It happened in Sedona, where there are hundreds of tourists crowding the streets and sidewalks. We walked into the Peace Store – a crystal shop. It was the only store we visited in Sedona, not to buy crystals, but because we saw their sign in the window that said “vortex maps.” What a delightful store to enter… it was aptly named for you could feel the peaceful energy as soon as you stepped over the threshold.

We browsed and marveled at the vast selection of beautiful crystals and chatted with the owner about the Sedona vortexes. And then, before we left with our vortex map in hand, we asked if she knew of any place we could park our camper for the night.

She told us to go find the Mobilodge where she thought the guy had hookups for RVs. When she told us he was located right on Oak Creek, we knew we had found our home in Sedona. Always, always, ALWAYS camp by a creek, the river, the ocean whenever possible. It’s our #1 rule!

Off we went to find the Mobilodge by the creek, expecting to find a small hotel, but instead found a trailer park…where there was an eclectic mix of trailers, campers and even Class A’s all tossed together like a scrumptious salad. Within a couple of minutes we were greeted and guided to a spot for the night…no worries about getting all the paperwork done, we’ll just take care of it in the morning.

Across the way from us, the smell of a campfire and the laughter and conversation of friends gathered there drifted our way. It had been months since we breathed in that aroma back in Missouri. The recent rain had filled the creek and as we settled in for the night, we were lulled to sleep by the sound of its rushing water. We were home.

The next morning we went to the office to pay for our night before taking off to hike the red rocks of Sedona. That’s when we had the pleasure and delight of meeting Don Campbell, the owner of the Mobilodge. He and Bruce discovered they were both Coast Guard veterans and then learned they had grown up in the same stomping grounds in Missouri. Small world, isn’t it?

Don has been in business here for 30 years. The lines on his face tell the story of a rewarding, but challenging life of service to provide a haven, a safety net, a home for the weary, the worn, the wayfaring travelers like us. He has found an energetic and reliable assistant in Maddie who definitely adds more life to the park and eases the burden of business details and organization.

For some, the notion of trailer parks evokes a twisted perception of the environment…we found just the opposite. Every person we met was genuinely friendly and happy.

We felt right at home. Maybe it was because the setting was so peaceful…a beautiful creek surrounded by mighty sycamores. No, I believe it is Don that makes the difference. He provides a place for people to live…young and old, seasonal and stationary, families and retired folks…from all walks of life, from all parts of the country.

We said when we pulled up stakes and left the campground in Missouri we knew that we would miss most of all the evening campfires at the 180 (the mile marker on the river.) There we gathered with the locals to relax and talk and laugh as we watched the sunset. When we left, we said that we would find the 180s wherever we went. We found the 180 at the Mobilodge with Don.

P.S. We're mobile - we're free to go whever we choose and stay for days and days if we choose because we take our "office" with us. Everywhere we go, we meet people who have the same dream of freedom. We are helping people WAKE UP to the reality that life is too short to wait for "Someday" ...

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Today, we climbed the stairway to heaven as we hiked up and over and through and around the sacred red rocks of Sedona.

Yes, sacred, holy ground.

As soon as we walked past the trailhead marker, we felt the hushed reverence of nature…in the rocks, the trees, the cactus. Every living plant stood in its place to cry out songs of praise and thanksgiving for the honor of serving as an adornment to this majestic place.